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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27267259">When Falling Meets Flight</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/stcrdusttttt1/pseuds/stcrdusttttt1'>stcrdusttttt1</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Knowledge of passion (and other things that set your heart alight) [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Character Study, Kageyama Tobio is Bad at Feelings, Kageyama Tobio is bad at words, Kageyama Tobio-centric, Kazuyo Kageyama appreciation post, M/M, Manga Spoilers, Slight kagehina, Tobio only we die like legends, bc why not lol, for chapter 387 primarily, i never refer to Tobio as Kageyama only Tobio, monster generation references throughout, mutual pining but only on kags’ side, toward the end mainly</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 02:22:16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,714</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27267259</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/stcrdusttttt1/pseuds/stcrdusttttt1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Tobio Kageyama Falls, and learns how to fly. </p>
<p>You have to love it. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You are here to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up. — Louise Erdich, from the painted drum </p>
<p>People improve when they get external love and support, how can we hold it against them when they don’t? — the good place</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Knowledge of passion (and other things that set your heart alight) [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2023102</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>54</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>When Falling Meets Flight</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Oh my god its finally here!!!!! I wrote this in 4 days and it was so much fun but i’m very glad to be done with it and even more glad with the final product. I really hope you like it! and let me know what you think :D and before i go, i want to say thank you again to the lovely J, who’s jublis on Ao3, for beta reading this &lt;3 Okay! thats it, see u on the flip side!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>i.</p>
<p>Tobio Kageyama fell for volleyball on an extraordinary day. </p>
<p>It was a slow fall down, one that you can feel creeping up on you but are surprised by the impact it brings to you all the same. </p>
<p>It started on a very ordinary day, as a matter of fact, a day Tobio cannot recall, but Miwa does often in an attempt to annoy him, as all-loving big sisters do. He notes how nostalgic she looked when remembering his discovery of volleyball (by trying to eat it, but a discovery all the same) and noted the solemn look Miwa created when she remembered who should be here on their trip down memory lane. </p>
<p>It strengthened on the days (which were too often) their parents couldn’t make it home on time so Tobio and Miwa accompanied their grandfather to where he coached the Kitagawa birds, it strengthened despite the harsh words of his classmates after he revealed that he doesn't have any video games like the rest of them. </p>
<p>Even seeing his self-conscious big sister give it up for the sake of protecting her long raven hair didn’t stop his love for the game from consuming him more and more, not stopping for anything.</p>
<p>And then the day came, Adlers vs Black Jackals. His grandfather had taken him to the match, so he could see professional players in their elements. The extraordinary day was here. </p>
<p>The setter for the Adlers had just pulled off a perfect set, and Tobio felt a new breath of life take him over, hypnotised by the skill he aspires to have (and will eventually achieve, though he doesn’t know that yet). </p>
<p>The Adlers won that game against the Black Jackals that day, to the dismay of Kazuyo Kageyama. Not for the first time, and not for the last time.</p>
<p>The extraordinary day came and went, Tobio had fallen into the arms of the truth. Volleyball wasn’t just an activity -- it was his source of gravity, keeping him from floating astray. </p>
<p>From that point, the wind had taken him in a different course than the 9-year-old might’ve been anticipating. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>For most people, life was all about risk. But for Tobio Kageyama, life was all about volleyball. </p>
<p>He had kept at it, knowing how much it had meant to him now, eventually growing stronger as the man who brought him into it started to grow weaker. But he still had a spring to his step, and poor little Tobio was too busy devoting himself to volleyball to see, let alone understand what’s happening to him.</p>
<p>“Aw, but I want to practice more!” Tobio had complained, pouting. He really is a cute little kid. </p>
<p>Kazuyo had turned to him and looked down toward him, and said, “Tobio, let me teach you something just as important as practice. It’s called personal maintenance.”</p>
<p>The volleyball crazed boy feels like he struck gold, his eyes widening in wonder you can only seem to find in a child. </p>
<p>Personal maintenance. I'll always remember to take care of myself; it won’t be a problem at all, Tobio thinks. </p>
<p>(Spoiler: it does become a problem) </p>
<p>“Where’s Kazuyo-san?” the little boy asks his sister one day, ready and raring to get back to his love once again. </p>
<p>“You don’t remember?” his sister asked. “Today’s his doctor appointment.” </p>
<p>Her brother deflated, but she didn’t see it, too caught up in her work as he dragged his legs away to the garden. He missed the presence of his grandfather, a feeling he doesn’t know that he’ll need to get used to. </p>
<p>Despite the increasingly frequent absences, Kazuyo always ensures he’s at Tobio’s games. He’s so proud of Tobio’s improvement since he started, and always makes sure to let him know it. However, something is different today. </p>
<p>Tobio’s serve was off. The Little Falcons had won regardless of the quality of his serves (mostly thanks to his skill - Tobio Kageyama really is a genius) but Kazuyo couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong with the 10-year-old. So he inquired:</p>
<p>“Tobio? there at the end of the game, did you go easy on your serve on purpose?” Tobio’s face turned into one of concentration, and Kazuyo knew the answer. He’s so easy to read, he thinks to himself. He knows he did it and he doesn’t think it was a good thing. “Why did you decide to do that?” Kazuyo  follows up, gently. </p>
<p>A moment passes them by, their respective thoughts filling the silence of their companionable walk home. And then the boy fills it with a response:</p>
<p>“If I did it correctly, the game was going to be over too fast. I didn’t want to stop, I wanted to keep on playing lots and lots longer.” </p>
<p>I never want to stop playing, I love being on the court, is what Tobio didn’t say, but Kazuyo knew that’s what he wanted anyway. </p>
<p>Kazuyo turned his head to the sky, crafting his next words, conscious of how meaningful they may be to his wide-eyed grandson. </p>
<p>“Y’know Tobio, if you get really really good, you’ll get to play lots more games,” He informs him, and Tobio looks up to him in confusion and surprise. “The best players get to play lots and lots of volleyball.” Kazuyo turns to him, just as excited and hopeful for Tobio’s future as Tobio is himself. </p>
<p>“And if you get really good, I promise you -- somebody who is even better will come and find you.” </p>
<p>The idea of words having no weight is a facade, Tobio believes. There’s an impact in every little bit of speech that flows out of a person’s lips like the droplets of water that bounce out of a tap when you turn the handles. Words, good or bad, stick with a person, for better or for worse. Kazuyo’s words to Tobio stay with him, all the way up to the world stage. </p>
<p>(Though he doesn’t know that yet.)</p>
<p>ii.</p>
<p>Tobio is thrown into life at Kitagawa middle school, and he loves it. </p>
<p>Well, he doesn’t really like school, but he loves the volleyball team. That much is evident, when he talks about practice to his grandfather at the hospital he’s staying at. </p>
<p>“One of the other first years is six feet already! and the third years are really good! one of them has this amazing serve…” Tobio trails off, thinking of Oikawa Tooru, great server with a not-so-great attitude. At least towards him, anyway.</p>
<p>“Really?” His grandfather responds, “Let me guess -- jump server?” </p>
<p>“Yeah,” Tobio answers. “He’s a really good setter too, but he won’t teach me anything!” Tobio’s mind drifts off to that very afternoon where he had once again attempted to enlist Oikawa’s help in refining his serving skills, and winces in the memory of his response.</p>
<p>“Heck no! You idiot! Idiot!” Oikawa had said, in a very characteristic fashion, holding the ball to his head and sticking his tongue out at Tobio repeatedly, uncaring of who saw. </p>
<p>“Oikawa, stop picking fights with the first years,” Iwaizumi Hajime had cut in, with a scolding tone as he walked toward the doors of the gym, as if keeping Oikawa in check was second nature to him. In that moment, Tobio decided that he likes Iwaizumi, and that he won’t stop trying with Oikawa, not while the love of volleyball is in his lungs. </p>
<p>“Well, yes! You may be teammates, but you’re rivals too.” His grandfather’s words swiftly snap Tobio out of his reverie. </p>
<p>Rivals, Tobio muses. He wonders if Oikawa will be his only rival, the only person challenging him, pushing him to improve, motivating him further. It doesn’t matter, he thinks. Anyone who challenges me will lose.</p>
<p>I’m going to stay on the court the longest. </p>
<p>Tobio turns to the DVD’s of the Adlers vs. Black Jackals game and turns back to his grandfather, excited.</p>
<p>“I want to watch some games.” It’s said as a statement, but they both know Tobio means it as a request, which his loving grandfather always adheres to.</p>
<p>Except today.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry, Tobio. I’m feeling really tired right now. Can you wait until tomorrow?” </p>
<p>A moment passes, in which Kazuyo’s volleyball-crazed grandson tries to take the disappointment he feels and bury it before it can show on his face, but fails.</p>
<p> He’s so easy to read. </p>
<p>“Okay.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Time goes on, no matter how much you don’t want it to, or how you want it to stop in its tracks. It’s an unrelenting thing. But Tobio doesn’t understand that yet. He doesn’t need time to stop. </p>
<p>Tobio practices, and practices, and practices some more. Not quitting for anybody. He watches the best server he’s ever seen refuse to give him guidance, time and time again, and then depart from where their lives first crossed paths, but Tobio persists anyway. </p>
<p>Though not everyone can go at his speed. Not everyone is a monster like him. </p>
<p>“I want to practice my digs,” Tobio tells one of his teammates, after a long day of practice. “Could you hit some spikes for me?” </p>
<p>“What, you serious?” His teammate answers, scoffing. “You want to keep going, still? Sorry, but count me out. I’m beat!”</p>
<p>Tobio catches another teammate rushing out of the door before he even gets a chance to say anything else. The rest of his team files out of the court. </p>
<p>“Guess I'll just practice serving, then,” he mutters to himself, and goes to practice some more, because people like him never stop. </p>
<p>Tobio kageyama is both a genius and a monster. But really, what’s the difference?</p>
<p>. . . </p>
<p>Time doesn’t stop for anybody or anything, no matter who it is or why they need time to still. Life continues as if the dent people make in a day never existed at all. </p>
<p>For the first time in his life, Tobio Kageyama thinks he gets it.</p>
<p>He’s standing solemnly next to his sister, in a too-large and uncomfortable black suit, in front of a dark brown casket. A picture of his grandfather is perched just behind it, his gentle eyes gazing at Tobio, and he thinks he might finally understand why people want time to still and halt and go back. He desperately wishes he could control it, just to be in Kazuyo’s presence one more time.</p>
<p>Despite the ache Tobio has within, knowing that he’s no longer with him, he persists for his sake. For the hope Kazuyo entrusted him with. That is what makes him a monster -- a threat. </p>
<p>Because and regardless of the pain, he persists. Not for the first time, and not for the last time. </p>
<p>Time continues to move forward, and Tobio perfects his volleyball skills. He won’t take anything less than perfect, as his grandfather would expect from him. If only he knew that Kazuyo only wanted him to do some more personal maintenance before jumping back into the thick of his love, his passion -- if only he knew Kazuyo maybe just wanted him to work as hard to be a person as he did to be a setter.</p>
<p>He’s going to win. </p>
<p>Tobio Kageyama’s last Junior Volleyball tournament arrives. Time moves too quickly, quicker than any human being can explain.</p>
<p>The setter with so much determination that it translated into anger had just been going towards the bathroom, only to witness three second years mocking the opponents they were about to play against -- some school named Yukigaoka. </p>
<p>Tobio walks into them making fun of the captain of the opposing team. That boy was one of the shortest around, probably a lot younger than a middle school third year, with a flare of orange hair on his head. Based solely on that, he and his team shouldn’t be that much of a challenge for Tobio, but an opponent is an opponent: you never know what they have when it comes to fighting. Even if the tangerine-captain looks terribly nauseous at the moment. </p>
<p>“Oi, second years!” Tobio bites out. “The official warm-up is about to begin. Get moving.” </p>
<p>After that, with a little more telling off on Tobio’s part, the second years scurry away into the main court, and the two captains of their respective teams are left alone.Tobio looks at the other captain and he seems to recoil, shoulders drawing up protectively. </p>
<p>Am I really that scary? Tobio wonders. Is this why animals don’t like me? </p>
<p>Tobio is about to go join the rest of his team when he hears a squeaky voice say, “You -- you caught me before I could tell them off myself!” </p>
<p>Tobio snaps back toward the tangerine-captain, temper flaring, and the other boy jumps back in fear, clutching his stomach. Tobio sighs, more annoyed than pitying. He looks like he’s about to throw up. </p>
<p>“Don’t talk big. You can’t even look healthy. That's why they make fun of you.” </p>
<p>The other boy gapes. “Excuse me?” </p>
<p>“What did you come here for?” Tobio asks, wanting this conversation to be over. “To make memories?” </p>
<p>“I came here to win,” Tangerine-captain answers. “What else?” </p>
<p>Tobio snorts, taking one step closer to his opponent -- he’s got a good few inches on him, and it’s sort of satisfying to see him stumble away. “You make it sound so easy.” </p>
<p>The boy puffs out his chest, but the effect is kind of halved by the way he has to tilt his head up to look Tobio in the eye. “I may not be that tall,” he says, “but I can jump!”</p>
<p> Tobio raises his eyebrows at that, trying to convey his surprise as disbelief. He says it so surely -- if Tobio were someone else, he might be slightly anticipating what the boy can do. </p>
<p>“No game is a guaranteed failure,” he continues at Tobio’s silence. “As long as we don’t give up!” </p>
<p>Tobio gives him a smile that is all teeth. “Not giving up isn’t as easy as it sounds.”</p>
<p>A moment passes, the air heavy and sizzling with their unsaid words, the energy bouncing around like a ball on the court. In that moment, both are thinking of all of their struggles, all their sacrifices and pain and hurt that inevitably, irrevocably, ended with them right here, in front of each other. </p>
<p>The boy’s eyes are shining. “I’m finally, at long last, walking into a court where I get to really play volleyball, with six players. I’ll win the first set, then the second set,” at that, Tobio turns, this time completely surprised by his determination, but the boy barely acknowledges him and he keeps going. “Then keep winning and winning! We’re gonna play hundreds of tournaments, and we’re going to win.” </p>
<p>“The first round, then the second round,” Tobio echoes, a dramatic rush of wind moving just as he stalks toward the other captain. “Then finals, and then Nationals, it doesn’t matter what you do -- I’ll be the one standing in the winner’s court.” </p>
<p>With that, he walks away. </p>
<p>. . . </p>
<p>When the game begins, Tobio is surprised and maybe just slightly amused when he remembers how highly the orange haired boy spoke of their team's skill. They are losing very badly. </p>
<p>That doesn’t mean they have to go easy on them, despite how likely it seems that the other team will lose, so Tobio keeps snapping at his teammates for not doing things perfectly -- or at least, what he considers perfect.</p>
<p>It’s early in the first set, when the ball is in Yukigaoka’s court, that Tobio gets his first real surprise of the day.</p>
<p>The other team’s setter had done his job well, despite the previous missed chances, and their captain, with his orange hair and shining eyes, used that opportunity to take a point. </p>
<p>Huh, Tobio thinks, in spite of himself. He really can jump. </p>
<p>But then he was blocked out. Not for the first time, and not for the last time. </p>
<p>From there, it’s an easy match. Tobio’s team is able to anticipate almost every move that Yukigaoka tries to make in an attempt to get the upper hand, and easily start stacking up points against them.</p>
<p>Tobio makes the set, and Kindaichi barely makes it over in time. Sloppy, Tobio thinks. He should’ve been faster.</p>
<p>The other team’s captain has been plenty fast so far, regardless of how ridiculous his team is. What’s stopping Kindaichi from doing the same, when he has Tobio?</p>
<p>“That was close,” Kindaichi says, relief clear in his voice. He can’t imagine the fit the King would’ve thrown if it hadn’t gone over the net, so he’s glad he doesn’t have to know.</p>
<p>“Go faster!” Tobio barks at him, before turning back to the game once more.</p>
<p>He’s practically fuming. Kindaichi curses himself for thinking too soon.</p>
<p>After Tobio nearly starts another fight, yelling Why can’t you just take this seriously? At everyone around him and God, it’s Kunimi’s turn to serve, and Yukigaoka messes up the receive.</p>
<p>“Here comes another service ace,” Kunimi chirps out, pleased. He’s sure they won’t be able to keep the ball up, but Tobio doesn’t share the feeling. </p>
<p>“Not yet!” Tobio snaps at him.</p>
<p>“He’ll never be able to get that!” Kunimi exclaims, as the orange-haired captain sprints toward the ball. </p>
<p>But Tobio isn’t Kunimi; he considers where it’ll go if it does go up, not wanting to assume more than they already have. In volleyball, nothing’s guaranteed.</p>
<p>He doesn’t have to worry for long. The ball hits the floor and Tangerine-captain fumbles to the ground and hits the wall at the end of the court, in the haste he’d been to catch it. His teammates run after him, likely concerned at the noisy crack he’d made when he hit the floor.</p>
<p>Tobio is standing near the net, so can hear them talking over each other. He can hear their captain say, “I don’t understand what you mean -- but we haven’t lost yet.” </p>
<p>He says it so earnestly -- as if there was no reason why he shouldn’t give it his all, even when it seems hopeless, simply because the ball hadn’t dropped yet. As if it’s obvious. </p>
<p>They haven’t lost yet. No matter how tricky the shot is, there’s a reason to go after it. No matter the disadvantage, there’s only one reason to keep going. </p>
<p>We haven’t lost yet.</p>
<p>“One touch!” </p>
<p>“He touched it! Cover!” </p>
<p>They lose the next point. Kunimi didn’t put enough control when going for the ball, and it went out of bounds. </p>
<p>“Listen!” </p>
<p>Tobio stomps over to Kunimi, who isn’t even facing the net anymore, and says, “Listen. You have to chase as long as it hasn’t hit the ground. Don’t let your guard down until the game is over!” </p>
<p>“I know that,” Kunimi answers, frustrated by Tobio’s frustration, “but it would take a miracle for them to pass us now.”</p>
<p>A quick glance to the scoring board tells Tobio that the game is 7-24 -- no, 8-24, in their favor. Because of me. </p>
<p>“That point they just got on us was no miracle,” Tobio points to the other side of the court, toward the opposing team’s spiker, who’s clearly watching them but trying to pretend he isn’t. “It was stolen. Our point was stolen by him.” </p>
<p>Kunimi doesn’t answer.</p>
<p>The next rally starts, and it's Yukigaoka’s serve. It falls toward the front of the net, which Kindachi skillfully covers. The ball falls to the front of the other team’s court. It reaches the setter, and he moves to make his toss.</p>
<p>“All right, Sho-chan! Get it!” but to both Tobio’s and his own surprise, he messes up the set. </p>
<p>A toss-miss? It doesn’t count as a dribble, but nobody’s covering there. </p>
<p>While Tobio is still considering his options, a blur moves past him and the other blockers in the front of the net.</p>
<p>The Tangerine-captain can fly.</p>
<p> And Tobio is kind of mesmerised, but also very confused. I’m certain he was going to the left, I know I had him marked. How? How did he get over here? Tobio has little time to wonder, as the other team’s spiker hits the ball over the block and falls back to the ground, rolling over to the side and quickly recovering to see the result of the rally.<br/>
The ball is out. Yukigaoka loses. </p>
<p>As the teams are lined up at their respective ends of the court -- most of them, anyway -- two people stand closer to the net, on opposite sides. It was all I could do to keep my eye on him, that was completely the setter’s fault. There was no way he could’ve anticipated a back toss, but he hit it anyway, Tobio thinks to himself, marvelling at what he’d seen, but completely unwilling to admit that. </p>
<p>He can react to tosses like that? </p>
<p>Tobio can hear the team -- Kindachi, he thinks, but he can’t know for sure -- call for him, reminding him he needs to get in line, but he can’t bring himself to care right now. High athletic ability, reflexes, a sense of how to control his body and finally, a drive to win. With all of that put together-- </p>
<p>He takes one step closer to the net and glares at Yukigaoka’s captain.</p>
<p>“What have you been wasting your time with for the last three years?” Tobio asks, frustration welling up. He has no way of knowing, of course, about the effort this other boy put in to get himself and his (evidently amateur) team to this point. He has no way of knowing why it makes his face fall.</p>
<p> They’re told off by the referee to get into line, and the two captains have to move in different directions from where they crossed paths. Not for the first time, and not for the last time. </p>
<p>“The king of the court, huh?” </p>
<p>The voice is one Tobio doesn’t know yet, and one he doesn’t hear in the moment, coming from the stands.</p>
<p>“He’ll be a tough opponent to face when he gets into high school,” another voice answers, almost amused. “The short kid looks promising too, but you never know…” </p>
<p>And the three high schoolers who’d been watching the game walk away, smiling between themselves. The back of jackets proudly says, Karasuno High School Volleyball Club. </p>
<p>. . . </p>
<p>Tobio and his team are walking out of the stadium, on their way home. It’s been a long day for all of them, despite how easy it was to win against their opponents, and how comfortably his other teammates seemed to have played because of that. </p>
<p>And Tobio might be harsh, but that’s because he wants to win. I never want to stop playing. I never want to stand down. Why don’t other people get that?<br/>
“You!”</p>
<p>Tobio doesn’t startle, and he can’t say he’s all surprised when he turns to see the boy who -- as far as he sees it -- just wasted his time. Though he is sort of curious about what he has to say to him.</p>
<p>“If you’re supposed to be the king who rules the court,” the boy says, his eyes bright, “I’m going to defeat you. I’m going to defeat you, and I'll stay on the court the longest!” There are tear tracks on his face, and he doesn’t seem in a haste to wipe them away.</p>
<p>Neither of them knows of the impact these words will have on both of their lives. Neither of them knows what they’ll come to mean.</p>
<p>Words, good or bad, stick with a person, for better or for worse.</p>
<p>“Only the winner gets to stay on the court,” Tobio tells him, unimpressed. “Only the strongest. If you want to stay in the game -- get stronger.” </p>
<p>And if you get really good, somebody even better will come and find you, is what he doesn’t say, because these words are not for anyone else. He doesn’t know, then, that this boy is the one person who’ll never need to wait for someone to find him. He doesn’t know he already has.</p>
<p>With that, Tobio walked away, moving on to the next match. </p>
<p>iii. </p>
<p>And then came the fall from grace.</p>
<p>For the first time since the extraordinary day, Tobio is falling. There’s no breath of life that consumes him and energises him in a way he’s never felt before in his life; there is no perfect set he couldn’t believe even happened, let alone be able to replicate; there’s no Kazuyo by his side.</p>
<p>Personal maintenance.</p>
<p>Oh, how Tobio wishes his grandfather were here. How he wishes he could take back his anger, how he wishes he could toss better sets, how he wishes he could do better. </p>
<p>Tobio longs for a lot of things during the fall, but none of them come true.</p>
<p>The most promising player of Kitagawa Daiichi’s volleyball club has had since Oikawa Tooru follows in his senpai’s steps, and does not end up at Shiratorizawa. The rejection from the volleyball powerhouse stings, but Tobio isn’t all that surprised. He wouldn't let that stop him, either. </p>
<p>But the king of the court falls, and the aftermath isn’t pretty. </p>
<p>Tobio ends up at Karasuno, a decision he doesn’t really regret at all, but one he’ll thank himself for making in the future. He just wasn’t expecting the orange-haired boy to end up there, too. </p>
<p>At least Tobio knows his name now, instead of having to call him “Tangerine-captain.” Hinata Shoyo. His receives are terrible and his serves are worse, but his athletic ability and sharp reflexes are unlike anything the black haired boy had ever seen in his volleyball career. The 3-on-3 volleyball match that gets them both into the team proves that to him once again. </p>
<p>For the very first time, Tobio Kageyama has found another monster like him.</p>
<p>iv.</p>
<p>Karasuno volleyball club is still on the high of winning against Shiratorizawa and Ushijima when Tadeka-sensei brought the team invitations to training camps in December. </p>
<p>Tobio Kageyama is going to the All-Japan Youth training camp. </p>
<p>He’s going on ahead first, and he couldn’t be happier.<br/>
.   .   . </p>
<p>While at the camp, Tobio discovers even more monsters, amongst other things. </p>
<p>The players in the youth training camp had just finished their practice match for the day, where Tobio witnessed some of the best young players in the country play. He’s met a lot of new people, and had a weird discussion about Ushijima with one Sakusa Kiyoomi, who was asking frequent questions about why Tobio was there, instead of Shiratorizawa’s ace. </p>
<p>They had finished playing their practice match, and were doing their cooldown stretches when Tobio was approached by another player, one he hadn’t talked to directly yet. Hoshiumi Kōrai, spiker, five foot  and six inches. Another little giant. Through his mind, a boy with bright orange hair goes running past, and Tobio wonders what he’s doing right now. Probably working on his receives.</p>
<p>(That is the answer. But not in the way Tobio thinks. He’ll find out soon enough.)</p>
<p>“Hey.” Tobio turns at the sound of Hoshiumi’s voice, trying to gouge exactly what tone he’s being addressed with. “Have you seen me before?” </p>
<p>Tobio blinks. “When I got here,” he answers, characteristically. </p>
<p>“That’s not what I meant!” Hoshiumi snaps, bending down so he’s at eye-level with Tobio. “I’m asking, have you seen any of my games before?”</p>
<p>“No.”</p>
<p>At that, Hoshiumi looks at him like Tobio has just grown a second head. “Then — then be more scared of me! Be surprised! You’ve just been staring at me like huh ever since you saw me!” He looks confused, out of all things, but he’s already explaining himself before Tobio can even open his mouth. ”Usually people underestimate me because of my height, and then freak out when they see my skills!” </p>
<p>Hoshiumi finishes standing in a triumphant stance, nose tilted up so he can look down at him. He probably doesn’t get many chances to do so -- and it reminds Tobio of someone else.</p>
<p>“Well, I am afraid of you,” Tobio answers, in the silence left by Hoshiumi’s outburst. “But you’re a great reference too.” </p>
<p>He turns away, figuring that should be the end of that. He’s not above the satisfaction of having the final word in a conversation, but before he can bask in it, somebody disrupts them with a laugh. </p>
<p>“Wow, you’ve got guts.” </p>
<p>The new voice comes from a boy Tobio recognizes in passing. A second year, also a setter. Miya Atsumu. He takes that in, trying to assess his skill based on what he can remember of him from the past few days. </p>
<p>“I actually thought you were going to be pretty prickly at first,” Miya continues, a teasing lilt to his voice like they’re old friends. Tobio doesn’t like it. “But on the court, you’re a goody two shoes aren’t you?”</p>
<p>And Tobio doesn’t know what to say to that. Not for the first time, and not for the last time.</p>
<p>A goody-two shoes. What the hell could that possibly mean? He tries to frantically work out what the blonde setter is trying to tell him -- is it about his playing style? His tosses? Tobio himself?</p>
<p>There’s a ringing in his ears.</p>
<p>We’re not following you anymore. We’re fed up with you. </p>
<p>He can feel wood under him, and a towel on top of his head. The bench.</p>
<p>Have you been giving the shrimp the exact tosses he wants? Now it’s Oikawa’s voice, still sugary-sweet and condescending, like he knows something Tobio doesn’t.  Have you even tried to? If you can’t understand that, you’re just regressing back to playing as the tyrant King.</p>
<p>The king. </p>
<p>Tobio has been called lots of things. He’s been called a genius, and a monster, bakageyama, and the King. That last one, people know he dislikes -- that is, Tsukishima, but that’s not the point --  but they just don’t stop, regardless. </p>
<p>Goody-two shoes. This feels different, and yet exactly the same. </p>
<p>Later, they play another practice match, with Tobio as a left wing spiker, to change things up with the players in the camp. They’re all finished up and stretching when Miya Atsumu walks over to Tobio once more, and crouches down to eye-level.</p>
<p>“Well?”, he asks, as if they’d been in the middle of a conversation. He looks content, and something in Tobio’s stomach tells him to run. “How did being a spiker feel?” </p>
<p>“It was fun,” Tobio answers, hesitant but honestly. “Your sets are really easy to hit.” Even as he says it, the weight of what Miya had said to him are still heavy on his mind. </p>
<p>“Right?” Miya answers brightly, like he’s pleased by Tobio’s words. “Anyone who can’t hit my sets just sucks.” He tilts his head back to Tobio, looking thoughtful. “Maybe you should be a spiker instead of a setter, Tobio.” </p>
<p>And for some reason, it reminds Tobio of his grandfather, on the day he made the most important decision of his life.</p>
<p> What position do you want to play, Tobio? </p>
<p>He can hear Kazuyo's voice ask him in his head. The one who gets to touch the ball the most, Tobio had told him then, and that answer still hasn’t changed, even now.</p>
<p> That would be the setter. </p>
<p>Setter, then. </p>
<p>“Why do you think that?” Tobio asks. He can’t even imagine playing any position other than the setter; it wouldn’t feel right. Him being a setter and him playing volleyball are interchangeable; that’s never going to change. </p>
<p>“Your face is really tense when you’re setting, but you seem more relaxed when you are playing on the left,” Miya explains, with a smile on his face. </p>
<p>Tobio considers this. He really, really does. But the answers he ends up giving is the one he already knew he was going to say.</p>
<p>“I see,” he says. “But I’m a setter.” </p>
<p>“I figured as much,” Miya notes, not looking too bothered about it. He stands up and moves to walk away, when Tobio decides, oh, screw it.</p>
<p>“Miya-san,” he calls. “What do you mean by goody-two shoes?” </p>
<p>Miya turns back and slowly smiles, though it doesn’t look genuine -- it’s not a smile of happiness or content, but one meant to soften the blow of whatever he’s about to say. </p>
<p>“It means exactly what you think it means,” Miya says, lightly. “It means you’re a serious, honest, and all around good kid.”</p>
<p>The words would sound like a reassurance coming from anyone else, but not from this setter. From Miya Atsumu’s mouth, it sounds like an accusation. </p>
<p>He walks away after that. Tobio still hasn’t finished his stretching.</p>
<p>Goody-two shoes. </p>
<p>Words, good or bad, stick with a person, for better or for worse. </p>
<p>So -- what else did Tobio find at the youth training camp? </p>
<p>The other thing Tobio discovered was the catalyst for the return of the King. </p>
<p>He returns to Karasuno, around the same time as Hinata shows up. They race, and Tobio appreciates the sense of normalcy the other boy brings back to him more than he’ll admit to himself, let alone to the dumbass. After what Miya-san told him, Tobio just feels -- wobbly.</p>
<p>“Oi,” Tobio says, they’re sitting outside the club’s locker rooms, catching their breaths. “What have you been doing these past five days?” </p>
<p>Hinata doesn’t miss a beat. “I was a ball boy.” </p>
<p>Of all things he expected to hear, that wasn’t it. He frowns, but doesn’t ask further.</p>
<p>“Do you have the keys?” Tobio asks instead. </p>
<p>“No, but...” Hinata digs through his bag, revealing his own volleyball. And what else can they do?</p>
<p>They go down to the field to warm themselves up. They start to catch up, talking about the players they had seen at their respective training camps; Tobio ends up talking about Hoshiumi a lot -- calling him the Little Giant -- and it catches Hinata off guard. </p>
<p>“And he was probably a hundred times better than you,” Tobio adds, just because.</p>
<p>“Rude!” Hinata exclaims, predictably. “Did you have to tack that on? Couldn’t you have just ended it with ‘oh, he was one of the best players there?’ Did you have to add that last thing? I think not!” He barks out that last part, visibly offended. Just as he’s finished telling off Tobio, Tanaka is walking towards them, doned in his jacket and beanie, twirling the keys to the room in his fingers. </p>
<p>It’s true that Hoshiumi is an overall better player than Hinata, but that doesn’t matter to Tobio. Because as long as Tobio is with him -- as long as they’re together, they’re invincible. He hasn’t forgotten that. But how can Tobio tell it to Hinata? </p>
<p>“Hey,” Tobio says before he can help himself. Hinata is walking ahead of him, and turns around when he hears the call. Tobio looks at him, and says, “You can fly even higher.” </p>
<p> Maybe it’s the way he says it that sends Hinata into such a state of surprise. Tobio tells him that, firmly, truthfully, with as much certainty as he can muster. Tobio believes in few things, but he finds, to his utmost surprise, that he believes in Hinata, too.</p>
<p>They’re staring at each other now, everything they’ve always wanted to tell the other being told through that single point of connection between their eyes, the same ones they see every day of every week. The same eyes that, somewhere along the way, started to remind Tobio of volleyball.</p>
<p>But Nishinoya’s shout of “Shouyou!” makes the moment shuffle and break, their gazes drifting, and they go on to continue with their lives. </p>
<p>.   .   . </p>
<p>Words can never have no impact on a person. The effect of a statement or phrase or question can just as much be miniscule as it can be so overwhelming it takes your breath away. Even if the words you say don’t have a consequence on the person you’re saying them to, they can have a deeply influential effect on the speaker. </p>
<p>Tobio Kageyama has never been very good with words, and that much is evident, but it isn’t something that’s been seen since his fall from grace. </p>
<p>“I know my tosses are good, so please, score more often!” </p>
<p>“Look at that. It’s the return of the king.” </p>
<p>Tobio desperately wishes he could control time, for so many reasons, but in this moment, he would do anything in the world to take back what he just said to his team. He is falling again, and there’s nobody there to catch him. </p>
<p>Except there is. He didn’t know that until—</p>
<p>“I’ve been thinking,” says Hinata. The team turns to him, curious about what he wants to say about the return of the king. Tobio holds his breath. “What’s wrong with him being the King again? To be honest -- if he tells me to do something and I don’t like it, I’m not going to listen to him!” </p>
<p>The team seems to agree with this, and Tobio feels safe, comforted. He feels like he’s truly on steady footing again. So maybe he is a king -- that doesn’t mean the people around him don’t know how to push back.</p>
<p>They carry on with their match, and just barely lose the second set, when Hinata comes onto the court. Probably to say something to piss me off, Tobio considers. He couldn’t have expected this.</p>
<p>“The setter’s the most dominant role,” Hinata states, just this side of teasing. “It’s the coolest!” He’s quoting Tobio, he notices, from the day they were first properly introduced, when they got thrown out of the gym by Daichi. “We aren’t gonna forget you just said all of that,” Hinata tells him. “No matter how much you try to be a Goody-two shoes, you’re a king deep down inside!” Tobio doesn’t understand where Hinata is going with this, if he’s being honest, but he says nothing. </p>
<p>Hinata goes, “Prepare yourself, from this day on, to be known as the new King of the Court!” </p>
<p>And then Hinata Shoyo takes flight once more. He leaps in front of Tobio, and you can see the slightest flash of fear on his face, as Hinata crowns him with the makeshift towel-crown he’d been molding as he spoke, and lands onto his feet with grace. </p>
<p>Words, good or bad, stick with a person, for better or for worse.</p>
<p>Hinata’s words are loud and clear, that day. I see who you are and I still want to hit your tosses. I see who you are and I still want to be by your side on the court.</p>
<p>Tobio would never say it or show it, which is made clear by the way he throws the “crown” back in Hinata’s face, but he will forever be grateful for Hinata’s outspoken acceptance of Tobio’s flaws. They aren’t the same at all, but something about this welcoming feeling he has extended to the genius setter reminds him of his grandfather. </p>
<p>Because of that, and because of his team. He smiles.</p>
<p>Karasuno carries on their match against Date Tech and Tobio can feel himself moving forward, and he realises that people improve when they get external love and support. Tobio knows that right now, he can do anything. </p>
<p>v. </p>
<p>Tobio fell for volleyball on an extraordinary day, but the day he fell for Hinata Shouyou was mundane in every sense of the word. </p>
<p>Tobio likes the feeling he gets when he and Hinata are together. He knows that it’s because of him, because they spend so much time together, and he can still feel his presence when they’re apart -- like a missing limb, or a task that it’s imperative that you finish but you can’t remember what it was for the life of you. Tobio never really thought very hard about how he feels about Hinata, not only because it didn’t seem to occur to him, but because every time they’re together they always end up roughhousing in some manner. </p>
<p>(He’s started thinking about it - and him - more often, though, but he doesn’t know that yet.)</p>
<p>Their third year was where you could always expect to find Tobio at the gym, even on weekends, practising his serves all alone as he usually does. He’s thrown the ball and is about to hit his serve when he hears it.</p>
<p>“How long have you been here? It’s Christmas break!”</p>
<p> It comes, of course, from one Hinata Shouyou. Then Tobio feels the ball hit his head, vividly reminding him of the day they were first properly introduced to each other.</p>
<p>Time goes on, no matter how much you don’t want it to, or how badly you want it to stop in its tracks. </p>
<p>“I’ve been here since two in the afternoon? Maybe three?” Tobio answers, not really knowing if that’s correct. He’s thinking of a more pressing matter. “What are you doing here, dumbass?” </p>
<p>“Why are you here?” Hinata retorts back to him. Dumbass. </p>
<p>“I asked you first.” </p>
<p>“I asked you second.”</p>
<p>It’s childish. Tobio knows they aren’t going to get anywhere with this, and if Hinata doesn’t want to share, then Tobio won’t question him.</p>
<p>Hinata walks toward him and says, “Toss to me.” </p>
<p>It’s said as a statement, but he meant it as a request, only one that he knows Tobio will always adhere to. </p>
<p>“Okay.” </p>
<p>Two hours later, Yamaguchi, the new captain of the Karasuno High volleyball club — and a great captain, at that — stops by the gym, on account of intuition that a certain pair isn’t getting the amount of rest they need before Nationals. With that, Tobio and Hinata are sent home, taking their respective bicycles and heading to Ukai’s store for some food. </p>
<p>Their silence is compainiable, until Hinata jumps on his bike and declares that he wants  Tobio to race him. Tobio takes him up on it immediately, thinking back to a time last year when they looked at the stars on the hill near their school, and his partner -- his friend had pulled the exact same trick. </p>
<p>Tobio does think about beating him, but his mind ends up drifting off into thinking about the impact Hinata Shouyou has had on his life since the day they properly met. He thinks about every challenge, every playfight, every competition one of them has put forth. Tobio thinks about how they’ve been chasing after one another for nearly three years now, and about how dull and cold his life would be if Hinata wasn’t right there with him now, or ever. Tobio’s life without Hinata would be as lifeless as a life without volleyball. </p>
<p>Wait. </p>
<p>Oh, no.</p>
<p>Tobio has fallen before, in good ways and in bad ways, but this isn’t anything he’s ever felt before, and he can’t imagine ever feeling for anybody else. Tobio’s life belongs to volleyball, but his heart belongs to Shouyou. It always had, but Tobio didn’t know that.</p>
<p>(Until now). </p>
<p>.   .   . </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Tobio doesn’t like how used he is to the feeling of wanting time to stop. </p>
<p>Hinata Shouyou is leaving for Brazil. </p>
<p>Tobio didn’t want to see him leave, but he knew Hinata would only regret it if he didn’t go. He isn’t the only one who came to see him off; Yachi, Yamaguchi and even Tsukishima came to wish their friend — a loosely used term in Tsukishima’s case — a good trip, and good luck on his adventures on the other side of the world. The rag-tag gang of first -- now third -- years have already said their goodbyes to Hinata. </p>
<p>Everybody but Tobio. He lingers a little while longer, as the rest of their group move away to give them the space they need. </p>
<p>It’s silent between them for a beat, but not a companionable one like the typical ones they have. It’s awkward.  A moment passes, the air heavy, before Hinata dives in for a hug, like the opportunity is precious -- like he’ll never get to again, like he’s thirsty for it.</p>
<p>Hinata is warm. And soft, not even close to how Tobio expected him to be, because there’s no way you could imagine a feeling as good as this. Another moment passes them by, with Tobio’s chin resting comfortably in Hinata’s hair, as he’s always imagined doing, before the latter pulls away. </p>
<p>Their eyes meet.</p>
<p>Hinata says, “I’ll find you, Tobio,” with so much certainty that it takes Tobio's breath away. </p>
<p>And if you get really good -- somebody even better will come and find you. </p>
<p>That one sentence -- simple and short -- tells Tobio everything he needs to know about how Hinata Shouyou feels about him. </p>
<p>And so, he says back, “You’d better, moron.”  </p>
<p>Tobio has risked his heart -- he’s allowed himself to be swallowed up by the person he trusts the most. And Hinata was taking Tobio’s heart, his trust, and going to Brazil. But despite this, he’ll persist. Not for the first time, and not for the last time. Because he knows that if he’s really good, somebody even better will find him again. </p>
<p>vi. </p>
<p>Tobio finally made it. He’s at the world stage. He’s here. And he’s waiting. </p>
<p>And in his wait, he reminisces. He thinks about Kitagawa Tech, and how unbearable he was to be around back then; he remembers Karasuno and feels his usual grumpy exterior -- Hinata called it his “resting angry face” -- shift into a happier one at the warm memories the school brings to him, with an orange haired boy at the center of it. He thinks about the Olympics and how he finally made it all the way there, how he truly made himself the best he could truly be: the greatest threat, the scariest monster. </p>
<p>Most importantly, he thinks about Kageyama Kazuyo. Without him, none of the above would’ve happened at all. </p>
<p>His grandfather held his hand through the beginning of it all, teaching the rules of the game Tobio wanted to play so, so badly, with every bone in his body. He was there when he got his jersey from the little falcons, he was there on that extraordinary day when he realised that volleyball was all that he needed and more, he was there when little baby Tobio put that damn volleyball into his mouth; unsuspecting of what path his life was going to take. </p>
<p>He wishes Kazuyo was with him now, cheering him on as he enters the world stage. </p>
<p>His mind takes him back to the extraordinary day that started it all -- that Adlers vs Black Jackals game. And his mind takes him forward toward the extraordinary day he’s about to have. Not the first, and not the last. </p>
<p>“I’m here!” </p>
<p>They found each other once more. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Fin.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>follow me on stcrdust__ on twt all i do is scream about haikyuu hehe &lt;3</p></blockquote></div></div>
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